Desktop Ticker is a free portable software for Windows that adds a standard ticker to the Windows desktop. This ticker can be configured to display the headlines of a list of RSS feeds that have been added by the user to the program. It is possible to dock the ticker to the top or bottom of the desktop, or place it anywhere else on the screen. The length of the ticker interface can be modified if it is placed in a custom position to suite the needs of the individual user.

Feeds are added with a right-click on the options icon at the left side of the ticker and the selection of File > Manage Feeds.

A new feed is added to the desktop ticker by pasting its url into the url form and clicking the add button afterwards. It is possible to reorder and disable feeds in the same configuration menu. Click ok once you are done adding all the feeds to finish the process.

The feeds are automatically loaded by Desktop Ticker and included in the ticker. It is recommended to check the options on first start. Feeds are updated every 20 minutes by default, which can be changed here. Other interesting options included changing the type of items that should be displayed in the news ticker, and whether the ticker should remain on top of all other windows.

Several theme related options can be changed here as well, from the font size to the general color scheme and the color of new and recent items.

Hovering the mouse over a title displays a preview of the article on the desktop. A click on an item loads the article in the default system browser.

Desktop Ticker is definitely not an RSS feed reader for everyone, as it is necessary to pay attention to the titles to see what’s going on. It can however be interesting for users who want a news ticker at the top or bottom of their screen, for instance to display the latest stock market news or finance news.

Users who are interested in the application can download it as a portable version or installer from the developer website. Desktop Ticker is compatible with all recent versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system. It requires the Microsoft .net Framework 2.0 to be installed.

Feed Roller is an alternative which we have reviewed earlier.

Rss feeds in OPML format can be imported into the software which is great if you are already using another service such as Google Reader or Netvibes to display your feeds online. The news order of the rss ticker can be set to chronological, alternating and random.

If you do not have OPML data you can add single feeds to FeedLiner with ease. Folders and different colors change the layout of the feed catalogue which is helpful if you have a lot of feeds.

A little bit strange is that I found no way to delete the default categories and feeds that come preinstalled with the software. Most of them are in Czech which should only appeal to a handful of users who read this article. If you find a way to delete those folders and feeds let me know please.

It is also possible to increase the size and the speed of the news ticker. Hovering your mouse over an entry displays that entry directly as an overlay which is really nice if you want to quickly read something.

Feedliner is a unique rss reader distinguishing itself from others with its rss ticker display.